Staten Island veterans group to honor chaplains lost in sinking of WWII troop ship USAT Dorchester

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The United Staten Island Veterans Organization (USIVO) will host a memorial service marking the 70th anniversary of the sacrifice of the Four Chaplains on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Father Capodanno Chapel, Fort Wadsworth.

There will be a wreath service at the monument, after the ceremony, weather permitting.

The ceremony will salute the four chaplains, who left from Pier 11, Stapleton, aboard the Army transport Dorchester bound for Greenland. The ship was sunk by a German submarine in the North Atlantic on Feb. 3, 1943, claiming the lives of 672 servicemen, including the chaplains.

Before their deaths, the clergymen gave their life jackets to servicemen.